Orient Away 24/25 – Northampton

After yet another home match being postponed due to internationals we headed off on the short trip to Northampton, for what seems like is a yearly fixture for us as we follow each other around the divisions. Northampton can be reached easily enough from Euston, with trains running frequently and the journey time is only around an hour. Unfortunately though the ground is nowhere near the station or town centre, so be prepared for a 25-30 min walk or jump in a taxi.

There’s not much in the way of drinking options around the ground, with only the two ‘chain style’ pubs in the retail park (Although I believe one of these has closed down so your choice is even more limited). You used to be able to have a drink in the bar at the ground, but that seems to be home fans only too these days. With this in mind we opted for the Thomas A Becket which is just down the road from the station on the way to the ground. It’s a decent enough pub although my mate who does like a real ale described the two ales on offer as ‘Meh’.

Sixfields hasn’t changed much over the years. It’s your typical ‘Out of town’ ground with identical stands all around the ground.

The team was, in the main, as expected with Wellens persisting with the tried and failed system of Kelman leading the front line. There was a surprise between the sticks though as Keeley was there in place of Hemming. The opening few minutes were cagey, before the first real chance of the game fell to Dan Agyei. However he was unable to find the target after being put through by Galbraith. The rest of the half followed a pattern of Orient playing the ball well around their own back line, but then reverting to long diagonal balls to O’Neill to try and get in round the back. Northampton were using Tom Eaves as their main outlet as the big forward was causing problems for the Orient backline. Both sides huffed and puffed, but in truth didn’t really look like taking the lead in a low quality half of football.

At half time numerous people commented on the fact that this was the sort of game that the hosts would get one chance, then take it and hold on to it. Three minutes into the second half they did just that as a long throw somehow found it’s way past five Orient players who just stood admiring it as McGeehan slid in to score. The rest of the half had an air of desperation around it from an Orient point of view. With no real options to change things off the bench James, Brown and O’Neill were replaced by Simpson, Donley and Graham. None of these really had any effect though as it was clear as day that Orient could have played to midnight without scoring. Obiero replaced Ball in a (failed) attempt to inject some life into the midfield before the final act of throwing on a 39 year old defensive midfielder when you are in need of a goal. Genius stuff. It was no surprise as Northampton comfortably saw out the six minutes of stoppage time to claim the three points.

There’s lots of finger pointing and questions of “What is going wrong”, “Who is to blame” etc and rightly so. For what it’s worth this is my two penneth:

Budget – It’s widely known that we don’t have a budget to compete with the top teams in this division, and most level headed fans realise that. However, other similar sized clubs to us seem to be doing ok on their budgets, so is it down to better recruitment? Also we are now being asked to pay up to £37 for a home match against these teams that we supposedly can’t hope to compete against, so that starts to grate amongst people when this is discussed. In some ways the board are a victim of their own success as with two recent promotions they now find themselves at a level that they are struggling to finance without additional investment.

Fixtures – It’s obvious we didn’t have the easiest start to the season, which put us on the back foot. Worryingly though we seemed to play better in those games and seem to be getting worse rather than improving.

Injuries – I don’t think we are any ‘unluckier’ with injuries than any other team, but when we do get them they tend to be to key players with no real backup (Another negative of a small squad). A case in point being Clare getting injured just as he was making that defensive midfield spot his own.

The Dugout – As the quote says “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results” yet that is what we are seeing from Wellens. The persisting of Kelman as the lone front man with Agyei pushed out wide clearly doesn’t work, yet there is no willingness to try something different. Add to this other factors such as dragging all 11 men back defending every set piece (Even when the opponents have ones with time running out so only commit a couple of people up in the area)

The Squad/Transfer Window – A lot is made of the reliance on loans, but it has to be said that a lot of senior players have been bought in on permanent contracts too. The likes of Ball, Jaiyesimi, Simpson, Clare etc have all come in on permanent deals. A lot is also said about the loan players being ‘dumped’ on Wellens, but it has to be remembered that Kelman, for example, is his man. He’s wanted him back ever since he left and he was given what he wanted.

So as you can see from the above, there is a lot of contributing factors to things going wrong, but nothing immediately fixable. Do you break the bank in January and sign 3 or 4 decent players to try and stay up? That would be reckless and could put the future of the club at risk. Do you sack the manager you just gave a new contract on much better terms? See the answer to the previous question. Do you sack the DoF? Whilst it might make a section of the support happy would it really change anything? Do we ‘Stop fucking about with it and get it forward’ (quote courtesy of the bloke behind me yesterday)? Why not – we’ve got to try something. I’m glad it’s not down to me to sort this out. Hopefully by the time the next blog rolls around after Wycombe next week we’ll have a few points on the board to ease the worries. See you there.

Orient Away 24/25 – Lincoln

After a week which saw 3 successive home games it was good to get back on the road again for one of the better trips in this division – a visit to Lincoln.

Getting there by train is made a little bit more tedious with LNER deciding to scrap the direct train. You have two real options – either get the East Midlands to Nottingham and squeeze on to the ridiculously packed two carriage train to Lincoln, or take a train to Peterborough and squeeze on to the ridiculously packed two carriage train from there. We chose the Nottingham route but there really isn’t much in it either from a cost or time perspective.

Lincoln is a cracking city to visit. The station is right on top of the town centre, which boasts numerous decent pubs. We opted for the Witch & Wardrobe which was a Marstons pub which had a good drinks selection and a belting Steak & Ale pie. If you’re feeling a bit more fit/adventurous you can do what we did last time around and trek up Steep Hill where there are some other good pubs.

Sincil Bank is around a 15 minute stroll from the station/town centre. The Stacey West stand which houses the away fans has had a bit of an uplift with new toilets/food outlets etc. The ground is completed with different styles of stands which make for a good old fashioned ground with plenty of character.

The announced starting lineup was pretty much as expected, with Simpson & Beckles as the centre back partnership and Kelman as the lone striker backed up by Agyei and O’Neill as the wide men. However there was a spanner presented into the works when Galbraith pulled out of the warm-up with an injury and had to be replaced by Jamie Donley. The first half saw Orient dominate possession but, in keeping with recent times, had no real goal threat. This almost changed on 36 minutes when Tom James hit the bar with a dipping long range effort, but apart from that Orient didn’t really look like scoring. In truth though neither did Lincoln, who certainly didn’t look like a ‘Top 4’ team.

Orient made a half time change with Jordan Brown replacing Clare (Who had gone down awkwardly just before half time). However it was Lincoln who took the lead when Makama was given plenty of space to head past Hemming with Lincolns first attack of the half. Makama should have made it two a few minutes later when he somehow completely missed the target when through on goal, as Lincoln finally started looking like a team in the top 4. Orient made 3 changes as they tried to get back into the game with Cooper, Jaiyesimi and Obiero replacing Simpson, O’Neill & Ball. That hope soon evaporated as Lincoln were allowed to run virtually from deep inside their own half with neither Brown or Obiero having the nous to just take a yellow card, and this culminated in Draper slotting the ball past Hemming for 2-0. Orient got a goal back through Agyei who burst into the area and found the bottom corner. This was a catalyst for Orient to throw men forward and we even had Omar Beckles operating as an emergency front man. However the game, and more recently Orient’s fear in front of goal, was summed up when Kelman was put through but opted to pass backwards rather than take a shot on goal. Orient did almost snatch a point when Wickens saved Jaiyesimi’s overhead kick and from the resulting corner Cooper saw his header cleared off the line.

People say you shouldn’t take notice of the league table until we are ten games in. Well we are at that stage now and with only 8 points on the board it’s safe to say it’s not the start that anyone would have wanted. I know we’ve had some difficult fixtures, but we’ve also lost some games we should have been looking at winning. If my calculations are correct we are now on a run of only 5 wins in 21 league games (going back into last season). It doesn’t take a genius to work out if you carry on with that PPG for the whole season then we will be League Two bound. A lot is made of our lack of forward options, lack of budget, lack of experience etc but somehow these will have to be overcome, and overcome quickly. It might be a good thing that the Huddersfield game is off due to the international break, as it gives some players a rest before what is now a crucial game at Northampton. If we lose that then I will be starting to think the worst as plenty of ‘good’ teams that get relegated lament on things link ‘Playing well but not winning’, ‘Missing chances’, ‘Individual mistakes’ etc. See you there.

Orient Away 24/25 – Stockport

The time arrived for the last of three away games in a week, but the first one with a decent amount of travelling as we headed north to face an unbeaten Stockport side who are currently flying high. The last time we visited Edgeley Park we came away with an impressive 2-1 win (Despite being outplayed for much of the game) as people started to believe that we could actually be a promotion winning outfit. I think most Orient fans thought this time round would be a much tougher test and would have taken a draw if offered before kickoff.

Despite it’s distance Stockport is one of the easier journeys by train with frequent trains from Euston. The town centre and the ground are right on top of the station, so it’s a perfect awayday. There are numerous pubs to choose from (Most tied to the local Robinsons Brewery), but with the pub we visited last year (The Armoury) now designated as a home fans only pub we opted for The Wellington. This was a quirky, yet excellent pub and I’d definitely visit again.

I’m a big fan of Edgeley park as a ground. It’s a traditional old football ground, right in the heart of the town centre. It is in need of a revamp and I believe that there are plans to renovate three sides of the ground to give them a stadium to match their Championship ambitions. Away fans now get the corner of the old ‘Popular Side’ which is a decent view if you can get a seat not obstructed by the pillars and you can get a decent atmosphere going too. The rest of the ground is completed by an open stand behind one goal, a large covered stand behind the other and the old ‘Main Stand’ down the other side.

Following the numerous changes to the staring lineup at Brentford the team that was picked for this match was more like what we are used to, as we reverted back to the team that started at Reading. Stockport had the majority of the opening possession, but it was the visitors who took the lead when Galbraith finished a cross from Tom James. Five minutes later Galbraith was at it again as he pounced to finish after Kelman saw his shot saved, giving Orient a very unexpected two goal lead. This seemed to spur Stockport into action, and they upped their game and were unlucky not to get a goal back just before half time when a curling effort from Barry went just wide.

Stockport made two changes at half time and immediately looked like getting a goal back but Hemming produced a good save from Adaramola. Kelman really should have extended Orients lead but he couldn’t find the target before Jack Diamond got a goal back for the hosts. At this point I thought it would be proper backs-to-the-wall stuff as I expected Stockport to go for the jugular. However this didn’t materialise as Orient shored up the midfield and defence by introducing Cooper and Ball for James and O’Neill. Immediately after this change Orient restored their two goal lead when Ball found Agyei who turned and produced a smart finish. Both sides had chances after this, but it was Orient who got a fourth when Clare, who has been a revelation since being moved further forward, finished from a ridiculously tight angle. Orient introduced Graham, Warrington and Donley for Clare, Agyei and Brown as they comfortably saw the game out.

As to be expected after an emphatic away win there was a party atmosphere as we were joined by Richie Wellens and Darren Pratley on the way home. Poor old Prats just wanted to listen to his music but kept getting pestered for photos etc, while Wellens just wanted to get back so he could get to the boxing. This is a result and performance that will make a few people sit up and take note. Shrewsbury apart, we haven’t played badly at all in the games we have lost, and to win back-to-back difficult away trips in this division can never be sniffed at. We now have a run of the successive home games against Peterborough, Wrexham and Exeter. Although none of these will be easy it is a good chance to put a run together and start moving up the table before our next away trip to Lincoln. See you there.

Orient Away 24/25 – Brentford

The second of our three successive away games saw us given the opportunity to lock horns again with an old foe from the other side of London. Having not played them since Russell Slade accused them of celebrating “Like they won the cup” it was good to finally renew the rivalry, even if this game wasn’t shaping up to be as feisty as the clashes in the heyday of the rivalry back in the 90’s.

The new ground is a bit easier to get to than Griffin Park, with Kew Bridge and Gunnersbury stations both in very close proximity. Whilst it’s a shame that the old ‘Pub on every corner’ crawl at the old ground has been lost (Although I believe the pubs are still there if you fancy a walk over there) there are some nice pubs in the vicinity with The Express, One Over The Ait, Steam Packet & Bell & Crown all worth a visit.

For me, and my comments on this provoked a bit of a reaction on social media, this is where the pros of this new stadium end. Our view was awful (Luck of the draw with shit seats down by the corner flag – no doubt the view is better in other areas), the place felt like it was made out of lego, It has an even worse ‘housing estate’ feel than what Hearn turned Brisbane Road into (Some feat) and then there was the stewarding. Being told to “Get that fucking wallet out of your pocket now” when being searched on the way in was the start. To then have the wallet opened and every card, note and coin held up and checked (presumably for drugs) is something that not even Wembley have managed to come up with. I’ll cover the half-time debacle later in the blog. Safe to say that the rendition of “You sold your soul for this shithole” is my main takeway of this stadium, and if this is the grand vision of the future that Travis/Devlin have in mind should they move us away from Brisbane Road then I think it will be a “Thanks but no thanks” from me.

The teams came out and although most people expected changes I think most were surprised at just how many. With a big chunk of the starting lineup being changed from the Reading game, and with Brentford picking a fairly strong team, it was looking a little bit ominous. However Orient started really brightly and had plenty of the early possession, culminating in Cooper finding himself in space to slot home an excellent cross from Tom James. I don’t think many punters would have backed Orients second string to take the lead away at a premier league side. The lead however didn’t last long as just 7 minutes later Keeley made a good save only for Carvalho to show that Premier League quality with an overhead kick. Donley saw his effort saved before Damsgaard found himself in acres of space to give Brentford the lead. Just on the stroke of half time Brentford extended their lead when Norgaard fired home when the referee waved away appeals for a dive by a Brentford player in the box.

The chaotic stewarding moved up several notches at half time when several scraps broke out between stewards and fans. People that went down to the toilet at half time were being told they couldn’t return to their seats without showing their ticket (They weren’t told this on the way down). Numerous people had left them in bags etc and the stewards were physically shoving fans back down stairs and/or slamming them into walls etc. Naturally people dont like that so it all kicked off. There was one moment right next to us where a little girl had to be rescued from getting crushed in the melee and the stewards just couldn’t give a toss, in fact they were revelling in it. Someone said they were from the same firm that Wimbledon used a couple of years ago, and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit.

Anyway – back to the football. Orient started the second half brightly again, and were seeing more possession now thanks to the completely ineffective (yet again) Perkins and Jaiyesimi being replaced by Galbraith and Kelman. Orient had a couple of chances to pull a goal back before Roerslev hit the side netting when he should have put the result beyond doubt. With 20 minutes to go any hope that Orient had of getting back into the game evaporated when Simpson was stupid enough to pick up a second yellow card with a blatant rugby tackle on Schade. In truth he was lucky not to have walked 20 minutes earlier when he could have easily had a second yellow for preventing a breakaway. Orient made three more changes with Pratley, Beckles and Agyei replacing Ball, Obiero and Donley, but these made little impact as Brentford having the extra man against a tired side meant that they started to run Orient ragged. In fact it was only a trio of smart stops from Keeley that stopped Brentford racking up a bigger scoreline.

Considering the quality of opponent I think the team that was selected equipped themselves well (Apart from Jaiyesimi and Perkins who were completely anonymous and Simpson with his stupid red card), but I can’t help but think this is a case of ‘What might have been’. I genuinely believe that if we had a stronger team out then we might have been able to shock the premier league hosts. I get the reasoning behind it – the tough league schedule coming up is far more important, but it will all leave a bit of a sour taste in the mouth if we now lose to Stockport and Peterborough in the next two matches. See you there.

Orient Away 24/25 – Reading

Following the postponement of the Peterborough game due to international callups, we approached the first of 3 away games in a week with the short trip into Berkshire. Getting to Reading is a breeze with frequent GWR trains making the short journey from Paddington, or you can sit on the Elizabeth Line all the way from Whitechapel if that sort of thing floats your boat.

The ground is quite a way from Reading station and you can either get the shuttle bus (Which in our experience is hit and miss), a taxi, or jump on a local train to Reading Green Park which is a 15 minute stroll through the Business Park to the ground.

There are numerous pubs in Reading, but my advice would be to head out to The Nags Head which is around a 15 minute walk from the station. Theres something here for everyone with numerous real ales available, a good food offering and they even do their own shuttle bus to the ground. If you don’t fancy getting their bus you can walk down the road to Reading West and hop on a train to Green Park.

The Select Car Leasing stadium is a decent stadium, and far too good for this level. The view from the away end is a good one from around 95% of the seats, although our ‘allocated’ seats happened to be in the other 5% with some handrails blocking a large part of the pitch. Fortunately with a disappointingly poor away turnout of under 1000 we were able to move to better ones.

There was a lot of bemusement when the lineups were announced, with Orient including 3 full-backs in the line up with Jack Currie making his league debut. There was also a place on the bench for new signing Dom Ball and a welcome return into the squad for Jordan Graham following his long spell out through injury. Following a delay due to a communications problem between the ref and the lino (Insert your own joke here) we finally got under way about 5 minutes late. The opening 25 minutes or so was pretty end-to-end, with both sides having chances to take the lead but being thwarted by their opposing goalkeeper. After 28 minutes though Orient did take the lead through Charlie Kelman. His shot looked to be a routine save, but Boyce-Clarke somehow fumbled it and it ended up in the net. With the amount of goals we’ve gifted the opposition in similar circumstances this season we certainly weren’t complaining about that bit of luck. Orient pretty much controlled the rest of the half, and deserved the half time lead.

In the second half Reading put their foot on the gas a bit more as Orient started to sit deeper. There was an incredible “bodies on the line” moment when Hemming stopped Campbell when he looked certain to score followed by Currie and Brown throwing themselves into crucial blocks. A few minutes after there was another stroke of luck for Orient as Heming was well beaten by an effort by Craig which thumped off the post. Orient introduced Perkins to replace the ineffective Agyei and Simpson came on to replace Happe at the back. A few minutes after we got to see our first glimpse of Dom Ball in action as he replaced Jordan Brown, and Jordan Graham making his first appearance in almost a year as Ollie O’Neill made way for him. Orient, marshalled well by the cool head of Ball on his debut, saw the rest of the game out fairly comfortably to earn a hard-fought away win.

Having lost all four league games, the last of which being the capitulation at Shrewsbury, this was definitely a game where a “Stop the rot” performance was needed. It certainly wasn’t a pretty performance, but the team battled and grafted their way to the three points. Hopefully this is the catalyst to start pushing on in the league, although the upcoming fixtures are very tough.

Next up is a trip to Brentford in the league cup in a game which I doubt will be as feisty as the game refereed by a certain Mr Elleray (Fans of a certain age certainly won’t forget that one), followed by a very difficult trip to unbeaten Stockport. See you there.

Orient Away 24/25 – Shrewsbury

With the only away games so far this season being within the M25 it was good to get out for a ‘proper’ awayday as we headed into Shropshire to take on the only other pointless team in the division. There are numerous ways to get to Shrewsbury by train, but the easiest is to jump on an Avanti service to Birmingham or Wolverhampton then take a local train.

The town itself is one of the better ones to visit. There are numerous pub options in the town centre and you’ll easily find something whatever your taste. It’s just a shame they’ve moved to one of those soulless out of town grounds. We opted for the Hole In The Wall which did decent food and a good array of beers/cocktails. From here you can either bus/taxi, or undertake the 45 minute walk to the ground. Seeing as it was a nice day we opted for the latter, but I wouldn’t want to do that in the pouring rain.

As mentioned earlier the ground is one of those “Identikit” grounds. You could quite easily be at Colchester, Northampton, or any one of a number of similar grounds. There is a decent bar/fan zone outside the ground that welcomes away fans and was reasonably priced too. Away fans get the stand behind the goal, which is identical to the other stands around the ground. It’s a decent view towards the back.

The team selection was pretty much as expected, with the two new signings coming in too late to make the squad. It was however surprising to see the better performers from the Millwall match relegated back to the bench. The game was a slow starter and there was nothing much really to report other than both sets of fans remembering Jimmy McLaughlin with a minutes applause. This changed when the Orient defence was split open by a through ball which Castledine slotted past a stranded Hemming. This prompted a bizzare reaction from one Orient fan who proceeded to march to the front, call Hemming a wanker, scrap with another Orient fan then get chucked out. Orient did have a couple of chances to get back into the match, but Galbraith saw his shot well saved and Agyei was unlucky with an effort that hit the bar.

The second half was, to put it politely, a complete and utter shitshow from all concerned. Wellens bizarrely decided to make a substitution 4 minutes in with Happe being replaced by Beckles, and then following up three minutes later with another two substitutions with Jaiyesimi and Pratley replacing O’Neill and Brown. In truth though it was only the hosts who looked like scoring, with Hemming producing a fine stop to deny O’Reilly. Perkins came on to replace Sweeney, but it was no surprise that Bloxham was given all the time in the world to curl a fine effort into the top corner. With time running out Bloxham latched on to another defence-splitting through ball to seal an emphatic win for the home side.

Wellens said after the game that this was the worst performance in his tenure and it’s hard to disagree. Some of the loanees are looking out of their depth, and one or two players are looking like they are going through the motions. Quite worrying at this stage of the season. There also seemed to be an element of panic with the substitutions too. In the first three defeats you could argue that on another day we could have come away with x amount of points, but this was different. A lot of players, and judging by the body language on the bench the coaching staff too, just seemed to give up on the game as time wore on. Even Wellens wasn’t his usual ‘Arm waving’ self on the touchline in the second half.

We can moan about the transfer window as much as we want, but whatever your feelings this is the team we have now going into January (Barring any free agents the club might decide to take a punt on) so they’re going to need our backing to get out of this rut. It might end up being a good thing that the Peterborough game has been called off, as it gives a couple of weeks before the next league match to get things together on the training ground (I’m deliberately ignoring the game in ‘that’ competition) before another difficult trip to Reading.

Orient Away 24/25 – Millwall

The League Cup, for once, threw out a decent draw with the short trip over to The Den. Getting to the ground is simple by public transport as it’s a short walk from Surrey Quays (Overground) or a slightly longer walk from Canada Water (Jubilee). With South Bermondsey being closed (Something I found amusing with the amount of Orient fans panicking that ‘Cowards Way’ would be closed) these were the only options.

I’m probably in a minority that enjoys it when we play Millwall. You are usually guaranteed a good atmosphere right from the moment the crowd finishes the final words of ‘Let Em Come’, although with barely 5000 in attendance for this cup game that wasn’t really evident.

The ‘New’ Den (Which is now over 30 years old) is nowhere near as intimidating as it’s predecessor. It is a decent ground though, and with good transport links it’s one of the better ones to visit. Theres nowhere around the ground for an away fan to drink though, so you’re probably best plotting up in one of the pubs around London Bridge or similar.

As expected there were numerous changes to the starting lineup with seven changes from Saturday. Zach Hemming did manage to keep his place, which I did find surprising and thought Howes might be given a runout. Orient started the brighter of the two teams and won an early free kick just outside the area, although James hit a poor effort straight into the wall. It was clear from the start that the Millwall defence didn’t like Agyei running at them and it was no surprise that he opened the scoring following a through ball from Jaiyesimi. Orient pretty much controlled the rest of the first half as the press meant that Millwall kept losing possession, and Agyei was running the defence ragged whenever he got the ball. This lasted until half-time when the home side were booed off by their fans.

Millwall made a couple of half-time substitutions in an attempt to get a grip on the game, but in truth they never worked. There was a break in play at the start of the second half as one idiot (Not Wellens this time) decided to walk around the pitch offering everyone out. The solitary steward who tried to stop him managed to fall on him once he slipped over, but the old bill just seemed content to stand there and watch it happen. Nice to see you earning your wages guys. Millwall made another couple of changes as Orient were defending resolutely, but in truth the expected onslaught from the home side never really happened. Cooper, Beckles, Sweeney, and Pratley in particular were determined not to let anything get through. Apart from a couple of long range efforts which were well off target, and a couple of goalmouth scrambles, Zach Hemming couldn’t have asked for an easier night to keep his first clean sheet as the hosts didn’t register a single effort on target, and were booed off again by the few remaining home fans at the final whistle. Hopefully this will do his confidence the world of good.

It was a very pleasing performance, particularly given that a lot of ‘backup’ players we’re given starts. Agyei was a handful from start to finish and nobody put in a “Below 7” performance in my opinion. We’ll await the third round draw now where everyone will be wanting a plum away tie to a big team, but in reality we’ll probably end up pulling out Barrow or Fleetwood away.

Next up is the first ‘proper’ awayday of the season with the trip to Shrewsbury – see you there.

Orient Away 24/25 – Charlton Athletic

Our first away trip of the season was exactly the same as last season with a short jaunt across the river into South London. However with both clubs suffering with their second kick-off change due to the new TV deal this one lost it’s appeal somewhat. The early kick-off meant we didn’t have time to recreate our Greenwich pub crawl of last season, which is a shame as I was hoping to bump into the Addicks fan who told us to “Make the most of it as you’ll never play here again” to get his thoughts on last seasons final table! The early kickoff also knocked a chunk off the gate with only 1900 Orient fans making the trip compared to 3000 last season.

The easiest way to get to The Valley from East London is to jump on the Jubilee Line to North
Greenwich then either undertake the 35 minute or so walk to the ground or hop on a bus. Alternatively you can jump on a DLR to Greenwich and take a national rail train to Charlton station which is right next to the ground. We opted for a different route though, taking in a walk from Woolwich which took about 25 minutes after a stop off at the Wetherspoons for a breakfast. If you go this way you get the unexpected bonus of seeing some pigs and other farmyard animals in the Maryon Wilson Animal Park.

As stated earlier the early KO put paid to the usual Greenwich pub crawl, so we headed to the newly created fan zone. Things hadn’t got off to the best start there with no beer available at the Greenwich Meantime stand, but Bartrams were allowing you to get drinks in there and take them outside. I’m not sure if away fans are usually allowed in there, but as we never wear colours we didn’t get questioned.

The Valley is a ground that is too good for League One, but the away end is badly in need of modernisation. It wasn’t too bad given the smaller crowd in this time around, but getting a drink or getting to the toilets was a nightmare last year with 3000 in. The legroom is also non-existent so good luck if you’re tall.

The Orient side was pretty much as expected, although Jamie Donley did make the starting eleven just a day after signing on loan from Spurs. Charlton had the better of the opening exchanges, with both Happe and Clare having to make last ditch challenges to avoid Charlton players going through on goal. After 24 minutes Clare went into the book following a challenge on Josh Edwards. At the time (and from the other end of the pitch) it looked like the standard ‘Take one for the team’ to stop a break. Having seen the replay though it was a bad one and he is very fortunate not to have been sent off. However given this was to be one of the worst refereeing displays I’ve ever seen it’s not surprising he didn’t get the red card. For the remainder of the first half Orient were well in the game, although neither side really threatened to take the lead.

As the second half started we could see Orient were starting to drop deeper and be less adventurous as it became clear that a point ‘would do’. As Orient made a few substitutions, with Beckles, Warrington, Jaiyesimi and Perkins replacing Cooper, Obiero, O’Neill & Donley. Despite (or because of?) these changes Orient sat deeper and deeper with the hosts unlucky not to take the lead when a curling effort from Ramsay hit the crossbar. There was time for both managers to pick up their customary yellow cards before Orient made a final change introducing Sweeney in place of Tom James. With 8 minutes of stoppage time announced it was clear that Orient’s only intention was to hold on for 0-0. 3 minutes later it was clear that wasn’t about to happen when Berry capitalised on some appalling defending to secure all 3 points for the hosts.

I’ve seen a lot of Orient fans blaming the ref for the defeat. Yes he was terrible (but for both sides) and we were quite lucky he didn’t produce a red for Clare when he probably should have. Also it wasn’t the ref who barely ventured over the half-way line in the second half and sat back on the defensive.

The two opening league games have been strange ones. Obviously we’ve lost both, but you could argue that with a bit of luck we might have got two draws. What is certain though is that we haven’t looked anywhere near winning either of them. It’s early days yet though and definitely not time for panic. Next up is a very tough game at home to Birmingham followed up by another local trip to Millwall in the League Cup then a trip to Shrewsbury to wrap up August. See you there.

Orient Away 24/25 – Hearts

I don’t usually bother to blog from pre-season friendlies but, let’s face it, this was no ordinary pre-season friendly. It was much more than that. If you are a fan of either club then you should be well aware of the bond forged by the brave players who signed up for WW1, and this match gave the opportunity to remember them as part of the Hearts 150 year celebrations.

For Sam and I it was our first visit to Edinburgh, so naturally we had to make a weekend of it. We found it a lot cheaper to stay in Falkirk and travel in so that’s what we did. We did all the usual tourist bits on Friday afternoon taking in the Royal Mile, the castle and having our first tastes of Haggis and Deep Fried Mars Bars. We got back into Edinburgh early on Saturday morning heading up to meet everyone at Haymarket in preparation for the commemorative march to the ground. Before the march set off we had some drinks in the excellent Ryries pub, which is well worth a visit if you’re in the area.

We joined other fans from both clubs as we took part in the Maroon Mile procession to Tynecastle. It was a sight to behold seeing so many people take part. Once the march had finished we dropped in to my favourite pub of the weekend – the Athletic Arms. As most people that know us will testify we like to dabble in the odd Rum (or ten) but we rarely venture into the Whisky market. However we did find a local Whisky that we very much liked – the Leith Legend – and we will definitely try and source a bottle.

Tynecastle is a fantastic ground. It’s made up of 4 very similar stands and with them being quite steep you get a decent view. Unfortunately you can’t get a drink inside SPL grounds, so no alcohol available inside. We did however try a Scotch Pie which was decent quality.

The game itself was played at a typical pre-season tempo. Hearts took a very early lead following a mistake from trialist keeper Ashby-Hammond before the two Jordan’s combined with Brown heading home Grahams cross. Straight after the restart Jaiyesimi scored his second of pre-season with what proved to be the match winner.

We headed back to The Athletic Arms for some more Leith Legend before jumping on the train back to Falkirk and sampling some of the establishments there. It was an “interesting” evening in some of those to say the least.

We battled the various ScotRail and LNER cancellations to get home on Sunday, and the train journey gave a chance to reflect on what a special weekend it had been. It was a privilege to attend, and a privilege to join the march to the ground. I really hope that we have the chance to return the hospitality at some point in the future by having Hearts down at Brisbane Road for a match.

There’s no way I’m bothering to blog from any of the remaining friendlies, so the usual blogging will resume from Charlton away onwards. See you there.

Orient Away 23/24 – Derby

As the season is drawing to a close we headed to Derby for a visit that has been eagerly anticipated since it was confirmed we would both be in the same division this season. It’s a rare new ground for me, taking me up to 85 of the current 92 visited. It also happened to be the 1500th match that I have attended (Of what I can remember in my middle-aged mind fog).

Derby is only a 90 minute train ride from London. The down side to that is you have to use the abysmal East Midlands Railway, who more often than not insist on running just 5 carriage trains and not having the reservations working. Upon arrival in Derby there are numerous pubs at your disposal. We were intending on visiting The Brunswick, but were turned away as it was home fans only. We walked just around the corner to the excellent railway themed Alexandra Hotel – well worth a visit if you’re in the area. The ground is around a 15 minute walk along the river park from there.

Pride Park is an impressive stadium. For a relatively ‘new’ stadium it still retains some character, and the system of seating at the bottom and safe standing at the top of the away end worked well with no ‘Sit down – you’re in the way’ arguments etc. The atmosphere was top notch too (probably to be expected with Derby gunning for automatic promotion and in excess of 30k in attendance)

With the current injury crisis the team pretty much picks itself, although it was a surprise to see Pigott not even make the bench, with Edwards given another (final?) chance to impress. There was also a space on the bench for the first time for youngster Phil Chinedu. The game kicked off and immediately you could sense that there were two contrasting teams – a Derby side who were fired up for important points in the promotion race, and a tired Orient squad who were just seeing out the end of a tough season. With this in mind it was no surprise when the hosts found themselves 2-0 up after 18 minutes, with Orient playing statues at two identical set-pieces allowing Derby two of the easiest goals they will get. The rest of the half followed a pattern of Derby being happy with their two goal lead, and Orient not really doing anything to get back in the game.

Orient introduced Agyei for a yet again ineffective Edwards and immediately looked more of a threat. Derby however should have increased their lead when Mendez-Laing beat the offside trap but hit a poor effort straight at the onrushing Brynn. Orient then decided to actually make it 11 v 11 by substituting a completely anonymous (again) Moncur for Rub Hunt and pushing Galbraith up into the midfield spot that he really should be playing in. This didn’t last long though as just a few minutes later Tom James was also hooked, which meant Galbraith had to slot back in to the right back slot. As the game was fizzling out there was still time for Orient to not bother defending a set piece allowing Bradley the easiest of headers at the far post.

I have a few observations about how things have gone since it became obvious we couldn’t make the playoffs. We have a combination of young players who have been asked to play a lot of football and look in need of a rest and a few players who we need to say ‘Thanks for the past but goodbye’ if we want to progress. To be looking at a top half finish in our first season back at this level and with the injuries we have had certainly can’t be sniffed at. It should be an interesting summer on the transfer front for sure, and I wouldn’t bet on some of the higher earners being moved on to allow upgrades to be bought in.

Finally, I won’t be at Shrewsbury so this will be the final away blog of the season from me. Thank you all for reading, and for all your comments (Even the ones that said “The most boring blog I have ever read” and “Poorly written – don’t know why you bother'”). See you all at either the Fleetwood home match or at the Hearts friendly.